United Benefit Advisors Insight and Analysis Blog

According to recent estimatesby Fidelity Investments, a couple will incur an estimated $280,000 worth of medical expenses after turning 65 years of age. They estimate this cost every year and when they publish it, I can’t help but have an anxiety spike as I ponder the reality of that number. Even if they are off and have over-estimated by 50%, the remaining number is still very hard for me to swallow. And, as anxiety has habit of doing, it sends me into panic mode and I scramble to reevaluate my retirement planning in an attempt to ward off the eventual doom and gloom that has settled on the far horizon of my life.

With apologies to the band R.E.M., this article is not about their music, nor their album, but about how automatic enrollment has significantly helped people. Think of all the payments you currently have automated. You probably have automatic deposit of your paycheck, automatic bill pay for your utilities and other monthly bills, and maybe even a recurring automatic payment and delivery of pet food from Amazon. Now, think of something that’s important that you wish you could automate. This is not the time to mention your daily fix of Starbucks, but about saving enough money for retirement.

I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “Nothing in life is free,” and nothing is – not even Medicare. In most cases, you won’t have to pay a premium to get Medicare, at least for Part A (here’s a refresher on the different parts of Medicare), but that doesn’t mean it’s free. You’ve just pre-paid in the form of taxes. So you don’t have to worry about a premium for Part A, which covers in-patient hospital expenses, assuming you or your spouse paid Social Security for at least 10 years. However, there are other costs associated with Medicare, which vary depending on the specific insurance.

We all know that employer-sponsored wellness programs are effective at extending quality of life by maintaining good health and reducing health risks that can worsen over time. Companies also obtain financials savings from implementing wellness programs. For instance, for every dollar spent on wellness, medical costs are reduced by $3,27 and absenteeism costs are reduced by $2.73.